"I"m glad of that!" cried Bud. "I"ll help you dig, and I"ll cover you nicely, and hope you will be some pretty insect by and by."
So she threw off her veil, and worked busily with a little wooden shovel till a deep grave was made. The old beetle tumbled in with a gruff "Thank you, child," and died quite comfortably, with the warm sand over him. Bud piled little stones above the place, and left him to his long sleep, happy to be able to help, and full of wonder as to whether she too would have to die before her change came.
The sun was going down now; for the b.u.t.terfly party and the beetle"s funeral had taken a long time, and twilight was coming on.
"I must find a place to sleep," said Bud, rather anxiously; for this was her first night alone, and she began to miss Mother Linnet"s warm wings brooding over her.
But she kept up her courage and trudged on till she was so tired she was forced to stop and rest on a bank where a glow-worm had just lighted its little lamp.
"Can I stay here under this big leaf?" she asked, glad to see the friendly light and bathe her tired feet in the dewy gra.s.s.
"You cannot go much farther, for the marsh is close by, and I see you have no wings, so you never could get on," answered the worm, turning his green lamp full upon the weary little wanderer.
Bud told her story, and was just going to ask if there was anything to eat, for she was sadly hungry, when some very sweet voices called down to her from a tall bush over her head,--
"Come to us, dear! We are the marsh-honeysuckles, cousins of the columbines you met to-day. Here is supper, with a bed, and a warm welcome for the good little creature Honey-bag the bee told us about."
Bud put up her arms to a great cl.u.s.ter of white flowers bending down to her, and in a moment lay in a delicious place, full of sweetest fragrance, while the honeysuckles fed and petted and rocked her to sleep before she could half thank them for their kindness.
There was time for a good nap and a lovely dream before a harsh voice waked her up, and she heard a bat talking as it hung near by, with its leathery wings over its eyes to shut out the light of the glow-worm still strolling about on the bank.
"Yes, the poor little boy wandered into the bog and was nearly drowned,"
said the bat. "It was that naughty w.i.l.l.y Wisp playing tricks again, and leading people out of the right path to splash into the mud. I"ve scolded him many a time, but he _will_ do it; for he loves to make the woodmen and the children think he is the light in their cottage windows till they fall into the marsh, and then he hides and leaves them to get out as they can."
"What a wicked fellow!" cried Bud, rubbing her eyes and sitting up to listen.
"Of course he wouldn"t mind you, for he knows you hate light, and he likes to teaze you by flashing his lantern in your eyes," said the glow-worm.
"Yes, I do hate light of all kinds, and wish it were always night,"
scolded the bat.
"I don"t! I love sunshine and stars and fireflies and glow-worms and all the bright things; so perhaps if _I_ went and talked to w.i.l.l.y Wisp he would stop playing these naughty pranks," said Bud, much interested, and feeling that this would be a very good work to do for the dear children.
"You couldn"t keep him out of mischief unless you told stories all night. He loves tales dearly, but won"t stay still and listen unless they are always new and _very_ charming," said the bat, peeping out with one eye to see who the stranger might be.
"I know hundreds! for I was born of a fancy, and my head is full of lovely ones, and I sing such merry songs all the birds used to listen to me for hours. If I could only reach this w.i.l.l.y Wisp I think I could amuse him till the people got safely home," said Bud.
"Come and try; I"ll carry you," said the bat, shutting his wings and looking like a black mouse as he crept nearer for Bud to mount.
"No, no; stay with us, and don"t go to that dismal marsh full of ugly things and bad air," cried the honeysuckles, trying to hold her fast with soft, sticky hands.
But Bud was eager to do all the good she might, and bravely mounted her new horse, singing as she flew away,--
"On the bat"s back I do fly After summer, merrily."
"She won"t do it," said the glow-worm, putting out his lamp as he went to bed.
"Alas, no! Poor little thing! she will die over there, and never be a fairy," sighed the flowers, looking like sad white ghosts in the dim light.
A cloud of fireflies danced over the marsh, where frogs croaked, mosquitoes hummed, and tall yellow lilies rang their freckled bells. The air was damp and hot; a white mist rose from the water that glimmered between the forests of reeds and the islands of bog moss, and sleek muskrats and bright-eyed snakes glided about, while wild ducks slept with their heads under their wings in quiet corners.
A strange, shadowy place, and Bud"s heart died within her as she thought of staying here alone. But she did want to see if she could make the bad w.i.l.l.y behave better and not lead poor people into danger; so she held fast while the bat skimmed to and fro looking for the naughty fellow.
Soon he came dancing toward them,--a dark little body with a big head like a round lantern, all shining with the light inside.
"What have you brought me, old Leather-wing?--a pretty bride to cheer up the marsh, or an elf to dance at my ball to-night?" he said, looking at Bud with delight as she sat on the dusky bat, with her pink dress and silvery veil glimmering in the brightness, that now shone over her like moonlight.
"No; it is a famous story-teller, come to amuse you when you are tired of whisking about and doing mischief. Be very polite or I will take her away again," answered the bat, setting Bud down on a small green island among the bulrushes and tall marsh moss.
"Let us hear one. Stop croaking, Speckle-back, and do you ladies quit dancing while I listen. Go along, Leather-wing; she shall stay till to-morrow and see what she can do," said w.i.l.l.y Wisp, seating himself near Bud, while the frogs grew still and the fireflies settled on the leaves like little lamps, making the island as light as day.
"It is late now; so when you hear the clock strike twelve you can stop and go to sleep, for the people will all be safe at home and w.i.l.l.y can do no harm. I"ll come again soon. Good-night."
And away skimmed the bat, glad to find the darkest part of the marsh and hunt gnats for supper.
Bud immediately began to tell the story of "The Merry c.o.c.kchafer," and it proved so very interesting that soon a circle of frogs surrounded the island, laughing with their great mouths and winking their bright eyes as they listened. The wild ducks woke up and came to hear also; a water-snake glided nearer, with his neighbor the muskrat; while the fireflies grew so thick on the reeds and moss that everything sparkled, and w.i.l.l.y Wisp nodded his bright head joyfully as he sat like a king with his court about him.
Just in the most exciting place, when the c.o.c.kchafer and the Stag-beetle were going to fight a duel about the lovely white Moth, the clock struck twelve, and Bud, who was very tired, stopped short, saying,--
"I will finish to-morrow at twilight. The last part is the best, for the Lady-bug and the wicked Gra.s.shopper do terrible things in it."
They all begged eagerly for the end, but Bud was hoa.r.s.e and must go to sleep; so every one went away to talk about this new and charming creature who had come to make the long nights pleasant. w.i.l.l.y Wisp went zigzagging to and fro, trying to imagine what would come next, and Bud laid her head on a bulrush pillow to dream of stars till morning.
She was rather troubled, when daylight came, to find herself a prisoner; for deep water was all round her island, and there was no way of escaping. She asked a pretty white duck to take her to a larger place, for here there was nothing to eat but the soft green buds of the sweet flag and the little sour b.a.l.l.s of the wild-cranberry vines.
"I"m not a steamer, and I don"t carry pa.s.sengers," answered the duck, paddling away; for he wanted Bud to stay and tell more tales.
So there she had to live for many days, watching the long-legged herons as they stalked about fishing in the pools, seeing how the rats built their curious houses, the frogs leaped and dived, the snakes glided to and fro, and the ducklings ate flies all day long. She talked with the yellow lilies, learned the song of the whispering reeds, and climbed up the tall stems of the bulrushes to look out over the marsh and long to be on the firm ground again. The bat forgot to come and see her, and w.i.l.l.y grew so fond of her stories that he would sit for hours while she told them; so no one came to harm, and Bud felt that she was really doing a good thing all alone there in the dreary bog. Every one loved her and wanted her to stay; but by and by the summer was over, the fireflies died, and w.i.l.l.y Wisp grew pale and lazy and fell asleep easier each night, as if he too were ready to fade away till hot weather should make him lively and bright again.
"Now I might go if I could find any friend to help me," said Bud, when the wild ducks said good-by and the herons stalked away.
"I will help you," said a water-snake, popping his head up with a kinder look than one would fancy such fiery eyes could wear.
"You!" said Bud, much surprised; for she had never liked the snake very well, though she had always been kind to him.
"I am your friend if you will have me. No one cares for me, I am so ugly and have had a bad name ever since the world began; but I hope when I shed my skin I may be handsomer or change to something better, so I try to be a good snake and do what I can to make my neighbors happy."
"Poor thing! I hope you will be a pretty green adder, and live among the flowers like one I once knew. It must be hard to be contented here, and you are very kind to want to help me," said Bud, laying her little warm hand on the ugly head of the snake, who had crept up to bask in the sun.
That pleased Forked-tongue very much; for no one ever petted him, and his eyes shone like jewels as he coiled his slender body nearer Bud"s feet, and lifted up his head to answer her.
"You want to go away and you shall. We shall all miss you sadly, but it will soon be cold and you need stay no longer; so I will ask my friend Sleek to gnaw these strong rushes till they fall and make bridges across the pools. You can go safely over them and find some warm, pretty place to live in till the summer comes again."
"That is a fine plan! Thank you, dear friend; let us do it at once while w.i.l.l.y is asleep and no one sees us," cried Bud.
So Sleek the muskrat came and made a road for her from one tuft of gra.s.s to another till she was safely on the land. Then she bade these ugly but kind friends good-by, and gladly ran about the pleasant field where autumn flowers were going to seed and dead leaves falling fast. She feasted on wild grapes, dried berries, and apples fallen from the trees since the harvest was carried in. Everything was getting ready for winter, and Bud was glad to make herself a warm suit of mullein clothes, with a little hood of thistle-down. She was fitting beechnut sh.e.l.ls on her tiny feet for shoes when a withered plant near by called out to her,--
"Are you going far, that you put on new clothes and stout boots, little stranger?"
"I must travel till I find my own country, no matter how far away it is.